Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Wyandotte County’s Healthy Communities Wyandotte Education Action Team will host an event to work to improve the health of Wyandotte County residents this Thursday, July 30th, 7:30am at the Kansas City Kansas Community College Tech Center (6565 State Ave, Kansas City, KS). The breakfast is sponsored by the Kansas Health Foundation, Wyandotte Health Foundation, YMCA, Kansas City Kansas Community College, and Providence Medical Center.

Wyandotte County has been cited by the Kansas Health Institute as having some of the worst health outcomes in the state of Kansas. Healthy Communities Wyandotte and Children’s Mercy Hospitals partnered to implement the Healthy Lifestyles Initiative (HLI) in Wyandotte County in order to address fundamental issues that impact children’s health. The Initiative promotes five behaviors that families can use to improve their health. These behaviors are (1) hour or more of physical activity, (2) hours maximum of screen time, (3) servings of low or nonfat milk or yogurt, (4) servings of water not sugary drinks, and (5) servings or more of fruits and vegetables, or 12345 Fit-Tastic!. This message was created to provide families who are regularly bombarded with health messages with one phrase they can easily remember on how to ensure a healthy lifestyle.

It is hoped that those attending the event will join dozens of other Wyandotte County organizations in incorporating this message into their own organization to promote healthy living.

“There are many organizations across Wyandotte County working to improve our community’s health" said Kansas City, Kansas Mayor Mark Holland. "We are gathering to celebrate current efforts while asking our partners to align in integrating this easy-to-remember message into how they talk about health with the families they serve."

The breakfast event seeks to bring together elected officials, education, business and community leaders and give them a chance to create an action plan not only to implement the 12345 Fit-Tastic! message into their organizations, but implement policy and environmental changes in the community to increase residents’ opportunities to act on these healthy behaviors.

“Our goal is to create a collective impact" said Dr. Ray Daniels, Education Action team Chair and retired superintendent of the Kansas City, Kansas School District. "We want as many different organizations in Wyandotte County as possible to join together to spread the same health messages and each do their part to improve how their organizations support families in attaining these goals.”

Healthy Communities Wyandotte is committed to encouraging and supporting these organizations on their journey to a healthy future.